Short weekend

We didnt get any new news today, probably wont hear anything til Monday. J sent out her weekly update with roughly the same info she sent us earlier this week. (See the previous post here). I did decide to take the advice of some of the other waiting families and give myself a break this weekend. I had taken two books on my trip to Kyrgyz , The Host by Stephenie Meyer (of Twilight) and The Treasure by Iris Johansen. I finished The Host, really good by the way in an 'invasion of the body snatchers' sort of way, on the flight home. So with my free time this weekend I decided I wouldnt read anything 'productive' or anything that would 'teach' me anything, just a book for its entertainment value. I read The Treasure. It was pretty good. I have read lots and lots of her books but they started to read the same so I stopped for a while. Dont get me wrong, I like her books especially those that have Eve Duncan (a forensic sculptor). Anyway, I havent read her for a while and it turned out to be a pretty good book. It was a love story, with a little sex thrown in and of course a conflict of some sort before the happy ending. All in all, a good book. I have to go to Wisconsin tomorrow.. brrr to teach a class so my weekend is pretty short. I like keeping busy. I may need to get another book at the airport. Hmmm

Obsessed--and a nugget of news

I know I am not the target audience for this series of books (have you heard the term 'tween'?). Anyway I have read all of them and they are really pretty good.. ok really good. So good that I have seen the movie twice and am not opposed at all to seeing it again.. I have the 'twilight' soundtrack on my Ipod and am constantly going to stepheniemeyer.com to find out the latest on the next movie (New Moon--starts filming in March 09). It seems I have a second obsession, B is my first of course, but I need some distraction. The books are 1-Twilight 2- New Moon 3-Eclipse 4- Breaking Dawn. It is of course a bit of a love story (between a 17 y/o girl and a vampire) with a bit of suspense and drama intertwined. There are parts of the books that just grab you and you cant put the darn things down.. I was up til 1 or 2 in the morning STILL reading. They are big books but a pretty easy read. Put it to you this way, I travel for my work, so I am on a plane almost every Monday and Friday and have 2 or 3 hrs of downtime those days and some evenings to read. I finished all four books in 2 weeks. I had to buy one in Wisconsin and got the others at the airport as soon as I fished one. They were suggested by a friend of mine (who also travels--and is not a 'tween' either) and I have gotten at least 1 of my friends hooked. He went through all of them in a WEEK! He is also the one that has seen the movie with me twice, hehe.

On another note... got news today that some people were fired in Kyrgz (the Minister and Vice Minister of the MOE ) these were the people (rumored) contributing to the delays we have been seeing. I dont know if its true or not but they were rumored to be against IA. We dont know what this means yet or if more will be fired but are told that the adoption files are being transferred to the Committee for social Protection by the end of Feb. I dont know what this means either. We are hoping for some more info on that, either this weekend or next week. The next thing is that the Krygz Ambassador (to the US) is heading to Kyrtz now and has IA adoption on her agenda, so we should hear in a few more days what she finds out.

This must be said..Our agency and coordinators (both here in the US and in Kyrgz) are awesome. They have been working tirelessly for us and I know the frustration (I am living it too). Its a great feeling when you shoot them an email and can say .. 'I'm not happy but thank you for continuing to try, I appreciate it' and really mean it.

Always Hopeful--

No news

No news yet. J has started sending us waiting families updates alot more often we got one yesterday and today. T talked with someone at the Prime Ministers office and to J at the MOE. The woman at the Prime Minister's office told her that she didnt know J wasnt signing letters and to call her back tomorrow. J said that they are also considering becoming a Hague country, so she suggestd T call her back next week. T was going to make some calls to Senators and the woman at the Prime Minister's office to see what the latest is. J also suggested T talk to the MOE who, rumor has it.. and only rumor, that the MOE isnt very keen on adoption. She will try to talk to them. I have every confidence in T, she turned a Senator around with her explanation and advocacy for the children, I hope she can advocate for the children again with the head of the MOE.
Do you ever think...... I'm gonna look back on this and Laugh about it-someday? Well thats I'm thinking.. soon, I will be playing with my son laughing at something funny he does and I will think--Last January I was so frustrated waiting but here he is...... home.

2nd post of the night

Ok, so I just came from Lori's blog and I must say if you havent visted it before its in my list of faves and is one you cant miss. My dear Lori you are soooo funny. I just watched the Principals office and kept on backtracking the posts I missed while I was in Kyrgz visiting Porkchop. The dog thing was hilarious and I must say that I think I have heard the cat 'situation' in my neighborhood with the stray cats. Thank you so much for laugh.

Work update

Those of you who have come along with me throughout this LONG journey know that my current job consists of alot of travel in the US. As everyone knows, alot of travel and a baby at home is not the desired scenario for parenthood. My company has been working through some changes (the economy of course) and we were told at the end of 2008 that we would be losing 3000 jobs this year. Dont worry, I am not part of the 3000. We had an announcement today that makes me feel a little better. A new realignment puts all of us that work on the same product together. Yay. The division is going to grow too. We are anticipating adding and hopefully there will be something that will be less travel. I have traveled for almost 5 years with this job and I love it but my life is about to change for the better and I dont want to travel anymore.

Home safe and sound

I am home finally. This trip was a bit longer. I dont know if having a night's layover is good or bad. On the way there.. I was happy to have a night to rest and meet up with T. Traveling together is definitely benificial. We got to know each other and compare stories and knowledge. The orphanage was the same, very warm. I didnt notice that any of the babies were sick, no coughing or sneezing or anything. I didnt really get to see anyone other than Porkchop but stole glances and got pics of some of the babies for families with my agency. I wish I could have taken a picture of every baby there and sorted them out when I got back but I couldnt. I know there are those of you who are waiting for news and I wish I could have gotten more for you.

Back in London

The internet didnt work the entire time I was in Kyrgyz. T is still there til Sunday but I am in London getting ready to get on my plane to Houston. I am exhausted this trip. The only good thing is that I got to see B for 4 glorious days. He was much more active this trip (he was just turning 3 mos when I went before) we laughed and laughed. He likes it when I shake my hair at him.. hes also ticklish and has this wide open laugh that is soooo cute. He is still little (only 12 lbs, 26 inches long) but the orphanage director said they were just starting him on porridge so he would be gaining fast. The clothes I brought him were HUGE on him (6 months) so he will have to grow into them. I wish I'd had his weight before I left for this trip. For those of you who out there who are considering an interim trip, If you can afford it.. go, absolutely go. Its hard to leave of course but I think I had myself all worked up, I didnt have a good cry til I was on the plane coming to London. Anyhoo, my incountry coordinator said there were 2 more boys (1 month old and 1 year old) that were just surrendered and he was going to ask J to find them parents. He is very optimistic and told T and I that it will get back to normal just may take another month or so. I hope he is right. He said to look at March for going back to bring B home. At this point though, I am not counting on anything til I have a letter and a court date.

We are here in Bishkek --Travel lesson learned

After a nap 16hrs lol. We are up for the day in Bishkek. Its 2am here and neither of us can go back to sleep ... we are watching bowling and let me tell you its riveting.. just kidding. We have all our baby stuff divided and ready to go.
We had an unpleasant situation in the airport during this trip. Both of us booked the flights separately through British airways (or in my case Continental) to London and then BMI to Bishkek. We had to get our bags when we arrived in London then recheck them on BMI. Here the very hard (and expensive) lesson we learned. BMI will only allow 20kg of baggage per person. We each had an extra bag so ended up having a total of 45-47kg of baggage. Its 15 pounds per kg that you are over 20. This turned out to be about $500 each for the extra 27kg we each had. We saved money on the ticket but they still got us anyway with baggage charges. Lesson learned: Book the whole trip together and check the bags all the way through on your airline when you leave the US. We both took the blankets on the plane, hehe, and those $500 blankets are going to the orphanage too.

Hello London

Well, after a nap, I am up for the day in London. T isnt here (at the hotel) yet but I saw that her flight landed about 45 minutes ago so she should be here soon. A little tip for those of you traveling through London and need to stay overnight. There is a Hilton within walking distance of Terminal 4. I came in on Continental and we arrived at Terminal 4. I was a bit worried since I have 3 big bags and am traveling alone but they have carts and it was an easy walk (felt good after a 6 hr flight) to the hotel. I got to the hotel around 7am and they let me check in early, really early since normal check in is 3pm. The electricity here at the hotel is compatible with the US so I dont need to worry about blowing up my computer. I used Hilton Honor points for all of our 'layover' stays. The sun is shining, its going to be a good day.

3 days

I will be on my way on Thursday.. leaving bright and early at 7am and flying to Newark NJ. From there I fly on to London and meet up with T. I am so excited. Its bittersweet though cause I know I wont want to leave him again. I will be strong though.

I am going back

I was so determined to 'tough it out' and wait until I could go back to pick up Porkchop. But fate, has intervened. As most of you know I travel for my job going onsite weekly to a different locations to train customers on our reporting software and imaging workstations. Well, it turns out that 2 sites ended up canceling, so the next couple of weeks were going to be home weeks for me. I decided today to book some vacation and personal time and hop on a plane.. I was able to use points to get me to London and will meet up with T there we will fly together to Bishkek. We had talked about the possibility of me coming too but before now I didnt think I had any chance of getting the time off. I am so very excited now. We talked this evening and I will use more points (Hotel) for our overnight stay in London. She has already booked a double room at Demi House (more fate) so I will stay with her and split the cost of the week. I am taking the blankets my Aunt crocheted and the fleece blankets I made for them. I am also taking some clothes that I think Porkchop will outgrow before he comes home for good. More later

Other Blog

I am touched that some of you would like to keep up more closely. I will need email addresses from you, Christina and Lori, you two should be getting an invite. Email me from the profile area of the blog.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! Its 2009, 'the year of Porkchop'. I didnt do anything to interesting last night. I was out of town, in St Louis, working and got back around 11:00. Mom and I were watching TV and didnt even known it was midnight until we heard the people in the neighborhood lighting fireworks. The year of Porkchop has finally arrived I was hoping it would have been 2008 but no luck. The ups and downs are really trying my patience. The ever changing 'move forward' date has left me wary and shaking my resolve of things to come.. I am very cautious about what I say to friends that ask 'when is he coming home'. I am, by no means, giving up on the HOPE that he will be coming home soon I have enough Faith for that feeling to remain strong. My patience is being tried by the neverending date of 'movement'. We have, yet again, another date. The middle of January the politicians are getting back to work. Maybe we will see some action, maybe it will take a little longer than that. Either way, Porkchop will be home in 2009, so that makes this New Year the best I have ever had.